South Carolina and Louisiana Delegations will dine together each morning of the Convention for breakfast at the DoubleTree Hotel in Center City, Philadelphia. Brianna SpauseSpecial to The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette

South Carolina and Louisiana Delegations will dine together each morning of the Convention for breakfast at the DoubleTree Hotel in Center City, Philadelphia. Brianna SpauseSpecial to The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette

SC delegates make push for veterans

Veterans and delegates came together at the Democratic National Convention to push for additional support for military families.

While the DNC is underway in Philadelphia, South Carolina delegates are championing a variety of causes, including veteran affairs.

SC superdelegate and former chairman of the DNC, Don Fowler also serves as the co-chair of the Veterans and Military Families Council. The VMF held a caucus Monday afternoon at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where Fowler outlined the council’s goals of providing adequate health care, training, equipment and support for veterans.

Fowler, who served 30 years in the United States Army, said support for veterans is a critical element of this election.

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“A lot of Americans think that when a person comes out of the military and has a family, that somehow they’re all taken care of,” Fowler said. “That is very far from the truth. There are massive needs within veterans. When a family gets separated, as much as military families do, it takes a special effort to make sure that family life is good.”

The Democratic Party Platform, which was adopted with a voice vote at the convention on Monday night, took a stance on veteran affairs.

“Our country has a sacred, moral responsibility to keep faith with all our veterans and wounded warriors. We must take care of those who have put their lives on the line to defend us,” stated the platform.

At the convention, Fowler said he plans to work with his peers in the South Carolina and Democratic Delegations to take a stand for veterans.

“We can make a firm commitment to provide adequate health care accessible to veterans and their families.”

BREAKFAST CHATTER

The issue: Gun Control

The argument: “Their death has to lead to reconciliation,” South Carolina Senator Gerald Malloy said, regarding the 2015 police-related shooting of Walter Scott and the Emmanuel Church mass shooting. “We have to end up living better. People of like-mindedness have to come together, and we have to end up taking that message back home. Let’s get back and do the work.”

What S.C. officials are saying: South Carolina Democratic Party 1st Vice Chair Kaye Koonce said, “We have to try to bridge the divide while honestly communicating with those who don’t look like us. Between races, between genders, and generations, and — even yes — between Democrats and Republicans.”

What could be decided at the convention?: Rallying support for the Democratic Party Platform on Preventing Gun Violence that addresses the strengthening of background checks, closure of loopholes and acknowledgment of gun violence as a public health issue.